The H V McKay Memorial Gardens (formerly Sunshine Gardens), developed by H V McKay in conjunction with his Sunshine Harvester Works in 1909, maintained as a privately funded garden until 1953, taken over by the City of Sunshine and renamed - are an early and int
act example of a privately funded garden attached to an industrial site catering 
primarily for recreational needs of workers, their families and local residents; The Sunshine Harvester Factory. The importance of the gardens is now heightened by the demolition of most of the factory buildings.
They have been designated by the National Trust so have funding to maintain now.
This is similar to the Fletcher Jones gardens in Warrnambool and the Colt Factory (the gun!) development in Hartford Connecticut.
It is interesting to see
that the gardens (as was the factory no doubt) right next to the railway Line visible in the first view.
The weather was threatening rain so I did a quick walk around as I was waiting till Spence had his grooming.
The contrast between the western suburbs and the inner city i
s evident by the Child Care centre opposite. Graffiti, security and a huge rubbish skip in the drive!
act example of a privately funded garden attached to an industrial site catering 
primarily for recreational needs of workers, their families and local residents; The Sunshine Harvester Factory. The importance of the gardens is now heightened by the demolition of most of the factory buildings.They have been designated by the National Trust so have funding to maintain now.
This is similar to the Fletcher Jones gardens in Warrnambool and the Colt Factory (the gun!) development in Hartford Connecticut.
It is interesting to see
that the gardens (as was the factory no doubt) right next to the railway Line visible in the first view.The weather was threatening rain so I did a quick walk around as I was waiting till Spence had his grooming.
The contrast between the western suburbs and the inner city i
s evident by the Child Care centre opposite. Graffiti, security and a huge rubbish skip in the drive!
1 comment:
Hi there Michele
thanks for taking an interest in our gardens. If I may just correct you on one thing though - despite the fact that the gardens are registered both with the National Trust and Heritage Victoria - this does not ensure funding for the gardens. Niether of these organizations actually provide funding for maintenance although Heritage Vic does sometimes funding for capital works. In fact the maintenance of the gardens falls entirely to the local council and unfortunately they do not have a seperate budget to maintain them. Maintenance comes out of the annual budget for all parks and gardens in the area. In addition - parks and gardens in the entire Brimbank area were completely negelected by the previous administration in the council (for about 10 years) - so the current council administration is basically starting from scratch - not a wonder we are less well off than many inner suburbs.
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